


Kite Flying

by Mai_Blade



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Lucci has a crush but he'd rather die than let her know, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 04:11:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15964424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mai_Blade/pseuds/Mai_Blade
Summary: Lucci notices a girl.





	Kite Flying

( _It was a windy day._ )

 

You grinned in anticipation, rummaging through the closet for one of your favorite items, a plaything, a toy. Once you spotted it, you grabbed it, bolting from the closet and out the door and down the steps— and practically ran into Rob Lucci. He stared down at you with that expressionless expression of his. You stood there, bemused as you stared openly at his top hat. You tilted your head and continued staring at it as the wind continued to gust, making your skirt wildly fly around your legs, dangerously close to flying up and exposing your underwear. You didn’t notice the impeding danger to your dignity and continued your intense focus on his hat.

Lucci stood there, hands in his pockets. Hattori cooed on his shoulder, fighting to remain perched in the gusting wind. Your eyes continued burning into his top hat until he finally addressed your obvious interest in his hat. 

“It isn’t going to fly off any time soon.”

You asked, entranced by the wind-defying hat. “How… how does it stay on?”

Lucci, completely straight-faced, replied dryly, “Magic.”

His reply echoed in your head, prompting you to burst out laughing. Unflappable Lucci and _magic?_ You bent double and slapped your knees, practically falling to your knees. “’M-magic’, he says! O-oh, my god! Nyahahaha!”

Lucci stared down at you in disinterest. He didn’t understand why you thought he was so entertaining. No one else seemed to think so, and they agreed with him that the amusement you found in his actions was a little extreme for something not that funny in the first place. Actually, if he thought about it, your tendency to laugh at things was something you had in common with Jabra, another member of CP9. Thankfully, that was where the similarity ended. Actually, he’s going to go ahead and forget that similarity, right about… now.

Your laughter was slow to taper off and you still had giggling-fits when you managed to stand back up and look at him. You snickered behind your hands, trying to subtly wipe away the tears that filled your eyes. You managed to regain some form of dignified posture and you spoke to him, though in a slightly faltering tone tinged with repressed laughter. “W-was there something you w-wanted, Lucci?”

“No,” he replied shortly, still standing in your way.

You made a move to step around him.

“Where are you going?”

You paused, foot in mid-air. You grinned, holding up the object in your hand, “Kite flying. It’s the perfect day to!”

Lucci continued staring. “Is it not cold for that sort of thing?”

You shivered, suddenly aware of the temperature of the wind. “It’s cold!”

Lucci stared for a moment, observing rather than asking. “...You just noticed.”

“Excuse me,” you bowed before dashing into your house to grab a jacket and put on pants under your skirt. When you stepped back out, slightly more prepared for the weather, Lucci was still there. You froze, blinking down at him. What was he still doing there?

You must have said that last part out loud because he turned and started walking, though it was in the opposite direction he had been taking when you nearly collided with him not long ago. You tilted your head and dug a finger into your ear as you stared at his receding form. Lucci was weird. 

You went after him, if only because he was heading in the same direction you had wanted to go in the first place. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking over the open field where future generations of the CP9 usually trained. It was empty today for whatever reason, and you were glad because that meant you wouldn’t have to go so far to fly your kite. Excited, acting more like a child than the age you were, you unfurled your kite–

And you immediately lost your grip on it, the wind tearing it from your unprepared grasp and sending it tumbling across the ground away from you.

“Damn it!”

Lucci and Hattori glanced back to see you chasing after it. Your pants saved you from underwear exposure, Lucci noted vaguely. They watched as you pursued the rogue kite into the woods where you managed to pin it against a tree.

“I have you now!” You cackled, your voice barely audible in the wind to Lucci’s keen hearing. His expressionless face changed slightly, his eyelids dropping ever so marginally as your cackling continued. “You shall suffer for your attempted escape. I shall pin you to two sticks and throw into the merciless embrace of the wind! You shall meet your end on either the hard ground or in entanglement in a wicked tree’s limbs. And then I’m going to replace you! Nyaha! What do you think of that?!”

So _that’s_ why the others in the village said you’d never get married to a decent man.

Eventually, you managed to put the kite together. Standing back up, you held the kite in one hand and its string holder in another and made your way from the trees to beyond the spot where he stood. He and Hattori turned their attention to your back as you stood on the field, waiting for the right moment to let it fly–

“Sorry!” You cringed, Lucci bending his head to one side, Hattori aloft and fighting the wind. Your kite had made straight for his face when you had released it. Lucci’s eyes pierced your being, irritated at the unintentional strike at him. You bowed your apologies, pulling the string to one side, “Sorry!”

Hattori landed on Lucci’s shoulder with a flutter, cooing his annoyance. They both watched as you wound the string in and tried to make it fly without impaling someone–like them–by mistake. This time you put the kite on a shorter leash, holding it up with one arm, waiting for the right gust of wind to make it airborne. The cold wind wasn’t cooperating with you. Lucci turned to one side to avoid having his legs struck by your rogue kite as it suddenly crashed and tumbled over and over, making you groan.

“Stupid kite, why won’t you fly?” you whined, picking it up. You sighed, staring down at it forlornly. You had really wanted to fly it too. “I wish someone was here with me…”

Lucci’s scowl deepened marginally as you headed back to the village with shoulders slumped. “I suppose I don’t count then,” he observed coldly. 

You spun around on your heel, beaming, “You’d play with me?!” You paused, “Wait, you’d play with me?” You tilted your head, looking up, “Lucci, frolicking with a kite…” 

You mentally pictured him running across the field, kite in hand, Hattori soaring with the kite and Lucci laughing while sparkly bubbles floated in the background…

Lucci suppressed the urge to sigh as he waited for you to stand up again, your laughter crippling you into a bent position. Seriously, what the hell was so funny? And why did he get the feeling that you were laughing at him?

After you managed to stop laughing—and with your gut hurting—you handed the kite string spool over to Lucci while you took control of the kite. You motioned for Lucci to take a few steps back, which he did, and you coaxed the kite further out on its string. You held it over your head and ran a short distance, yelling, “ _Fly_ , you bugger!”

The kite, insulted, crashed defiantly into the ground. Or at least that’s what you thought the kite was doing. You turned to Lucci, incensed, and pointed at the grounded kite, “It’s doing this on purpose!” You clenched a fist and glared at it, “But watch. I’ll get this thing air-borne if it kills me!”

_Which it might_ , Lucci thought, watching as you ran around the field, tripping over various things, getting dive-bombed by the kite, occasionally running into training poles and generally grating on his nerves. His eye twitched as you ran into a pole, fell backwards and got stomach-punched by the kite. How did you even manage that? Were you just naturally such a klutz?

Hattori cooed on his shoulder, seeking shelter in his hair. Lucci ground his teeth together, noticing that the cold was beginning to seep into him. He stared at you, noticing your warm flush. With all the running and jumping you were doing you must be plenty warm despite the cold wind.

“Lucci! Look!” 

He looked to see you pointing up. Following your pointing finger, he saw that the kite was finally up. It tugged heartily on its string and Lucci clasped the string spool tighter with his cold hands. Hattori cooed, watching the strange object in the sky. 

You laughed, clapping your hands. Lucci turned his eyes from the kite to you. Your attention was wholly devoted to the kite, your smiling face beaming up at it. Your flushed face was wonderful against the cold grey of the day. 

But that smile. 

Why should it be for an inanimate object such as this worthless kite he held within your reach by holding onto the string spool? It would be so easy to let go, to release the kite. Then maybe you would turn that smile on him and…

No. 

That kite brought that smile to your face. Not him. To knowingly release your kite, to let it fly out of your reach, would be unkind. Lucci knew that your smile would vanish with it.

So he held onto the kite spool until you took it from his hands.

“Your hands are cold!” You held the kite spool in one hand, your other lingering over his cold fingers. You were apologetic. “I’m sorry. I made you stand out here for ages. I should have noticed the time and the cold wind. Sorry, Lucci…” You reeled in the kite, feeling guilty. When you had dismantled the kite you had an idea on how to make amends. You brightened up, turning to face him, “I know! Come to my house, I’ll make you something warm to drink!” 

Lucci allowed himself to be tugged along, the cold wind still blowing.

He stared straight ahead, feigning obliviousness while sharply aware of the feel of your warm hand holding his.

 

( _It was a perfect day._ )

* * *

**No one can understand love who has not experienced infatuation. And no one can understand infatuation, no matter how many times he has experienced it.**

**~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960**


End file.
